The western bio-pic, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the final recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch. A beautiful and bleak film, the picture stars Brad Pitt, as the legendary outlaw, with Casey Affleck as his assassin. The…
Tag: western
Unforgiven (1992) – Clint Eastwood
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch, is my all-time favourite western, Eastwood’s multi-Oscar winning film (Best Director, Best Picture, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman). An ageing gunfighter, William Munny (Eastwood) wants to tend to his tiny parcel…
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969) – George Roy Hill
The next stop in the recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch, is yet another one of my all time favourite westerns, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. From it’s opening shots, made to look like an early silent film, this movie took me…
The Magnificent Seven (1960) – John Sturges
That music, that cast… It’s no wonder that Sturges’ Americanisation of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is one of my all time favourite westerns, and the first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Wild Bunch. Elmer Bernstein’s rousing and memorable score supports Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Eli…
The Wild Bunch (1969) – Sam Peckinpah
The next big stop in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as I return to the Historical chapter, is Peckinpah’s ultra-violent, wonderfully bloody take on the Hollywood Western. A group of professional outlaws out of step and out of time looking for one last score find themselves fatally wandering the line between…
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) – Sergio Leone
The Great Movies – The 100 Years of Film book returns me to the western genre with this Sergio Leone epic that stars Jason Robards, Chalres Bronson, Henry Fonda and Claudia Cardinale. Playing against type, Fonda is the villain, Frank, who is working for the railroad, and trying to drive a woman, Jill McBain (Cardinale),…
Star Trek: The Original Series (1968) – Spectre of the Gun and Day of the Dove
Captain’s log: stardate 4385.3 Spectre of the Gun is a bit of an interesting episode. Written by Gene Coon, under a pseudonym the episode premiered on 25 October, 1968. When the Enterprise trespasses into Melkot space, the alien race punishes some of the crew including Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley),…
The Twilight Zone (1960/1961) – A Most Unusual Camera, The Night of the Meek and Dust
Paramount Pictures guides me deeper into The Twilight Zone with their Complete Series on blu-ray. Up first this week is A Most Unusual Camera. Written by Rod Serling, this episode premiered on 16 December, 1960. When Chester (Fred Clark) and Paula (Jean Carson) rob a curio shop they get more than they expected with a…
Back to the Future: Part III (1990) – Robert Zemeckis
My last stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book is the final trip with Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in Back to the Future: Part III. From the film’s opening credits you know this will be a different adventure, the triumphant theme by Alan Silvestri gives way to a stirring romantic…
Quantum Leap (1992) – The Last Gunfighter and A Song for the Soul
Sam finds himself in the form of aged gunfighter, Tyler Means, in The Last Gunfighter. Written by Sam Rolfe and Chris Ruppenthal and airing on 5 February, 1992, Sam find himself on 28 November, 1957. Tyler Means is 82 years old. He likes his whiskey, and he likes his tall tales, especially the ones centring…
The Mind Reels 